


Post-Possession Therapy for Vanguard Fighters

by Kamui4Heroes



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Kai and Aichi as impromptu parents, Kazuma needs a hug, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Ships if you squint, physical atrophy, post-Cardfight!! Vanguard Z
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamui4Heroes/pseuds/Kamui4Heroes
Summary: He wasn't okay, not really.But it was harder to tell all the well-meaning people who just wanted to care for him that yes, Kazuma was okay. Because no, there wasn't anything they could do to help him, thank you very much. Everything was fine, just perfectly fine.Because they had won. Gyze was gone for good. A deity of destruction, destroyed.And Kazuma wasn't in the business of raining on everyone's victory parade by admitting that he had been hearing weird things or that he couldn't stand to look in a mirror lately.---An exploration of longer-lasting effects from getting possessed by an eldritch deity of destruction ft. Kai and Aichi as impromptu parents.
Relationships: Kai Toshiki/Sendou Aichi, Shindou Chrono & Shouji Kazuma
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe we have to make up all the work that we missed," Chrono groaned as he bit down on a piece of rolled egg. 

Chrono sat with Kazuma in their usual spot in the shade with their lunches. Behind them, the voices of other students filled the air as they bustled about during lunch hour. 

Kazuma would have laughed at his teammate's expense if he hadn't been in the same boat. 

"Just be glad that Ibuki-san was kind enough to vouch for our absences," he replied around a mouth of bread, "Otherwise who knows what other trouble we'd be in." 

It had been quite the spectacle, too. Ibuki had come to Harumi High School as the presiding president of the Vanguard Association, citing a very private and very nonexistent congratulatory ceremony for Team Striders' U20 victory as the reason why they had been gone. The principal had protested mildly over the fact that the absences were only being smoothed over with the school after the fact, but he was quickly won over. 

Or, as Kazuma saw it, scared into submission by Ibuki's glare. 

How a man could be so intimidating while bowing out of respect was beyond Kazuma. 

Chrono groaned, "Ugh, I know, I know. I'm grateful that he did that. I really am! It just sucks that we had to save the world and now we're getting thanked with homework of all things." 

"You're telling me, Shindou," Kazuma groaned too, Between the diffride nonsense and his short term hospital stay after Gyze's defeat, he had missed a week and a half more than Chrono had. In fact, if his brother had had his way, Kazuma would've still been strapped to a bed. 

Chrono stabbed his chopsticks into his lunchbox, "I think just feel like complaining. I'm tempted to ask for help from Shion or Tokoha, but they've been pretty busy lately too so-" 

Chrono abruptly stopped talking. 

Kazuma had suddenly gone very still - back rigid, and hands tense. He kept looking around, eyes darting all over the courtyard. 

"Kazuma?" Chrono called out tentatively. 

"Do you hear that?" 

Chrono blinked, "Hear what?" 

Kazuma frowned. An incessant, low-pitched ringing sounded in his ears, almost as if someone was humming right behind him. He placed a hand over one ear in an attempt to block it out, only to realize that it didn't diminish the sound at all. A quick glance at Chrono's confused face indicated that he didn't hear it. Which meant that it had to have come from... 

"Kazuma? What is it?" 

As soon as Chrono spoke again, the hum stopped. 

"Ah, sorry," Kazuma dropped the hand he had over his ear, "I think my ear was just ringing." 

Chrono pursed his lips. There was a thoughtful look on his face, not unlike when he was playing Vanguard - analyzing, calculating the dimensions of a match in its entirety. For a moment, Kazuma feared that Chrono would ask if he was okay. 

He wasn't, not really. 

But it was harder to tell all the well-meaning people who just wanted to care for him that yes, Kazuma was okay. Because no, there wasn't anything they could do to help him, thank you very much. Everything was fine, just perfectly fine. 

Because they had won. Gyze was gone for good. A deity of destruction, destroyed. 

And Kazuma wasn't in the business of raining on everyone's victory parade by admitting that he had been hearing weird things or that he couldn't stand to look in a mirror lately. 

He just needed time to get over it. 

"Fine." 

Kazuma perked up at his teammate's response. 

Chrono finally looked away and took another bite of rice, "I won't pry if you don't want me to, but." 

The redhead pointed at Kazuma with his chopsticks, "If you need anything, make sure to let someone know. Don't keep things to yourself if you don't have to." 

_Might be a bit late for that_ , Kazuma thought, but he still replied, "Okay, okay Mom." 

The chopstick Kazuma took to the head was well worth breaking up the tension. 

As Kazuma retaliated by poking his juicebox straw right into the middle of Chrono's ridiculous hair curl, their laughter edged away a touch of the tension he'd been barreling up. 

Things would be okay. He had to believe that. 

\--- 

"Hello again, Shouji-kun," the doctor greeted. He was a middle-aged man with faint smile lines and the beginnings of a portly beer belly. "And you as well, President." 

Ibuki nodded in acknowledgment, "It's good to see you, Dr. Yamamoto." 

Kazuma still didn't quite understand why the standing president of the Vanguard association bothered taking time out of his schedule to accompany him to these visits. It seemed more like something his doting older brother would have done if he wasn't so busy settling family affairs. 

Still, Chrono and Taiyou had insisted that following up on the physical effects of the illegal diffride was important and since the association had so graciously paid for all the fees, it wasn't like Kazuma had any real reason to refuse. 

Plus, Kazuma doubted that anyone could honestly refuse anything when both of his teammates were making puppy eyes at the same time. 

"Now, let's begin..." 

The inspection was like all the others he'd had since Gyze had been destroyed. A standard check of his temperature, reflexes, breathing, heartbeat, and so on. Kazuma tended to tune out during the more mundane tests. 

Then, came the physical strength test. 

Kazuma wasn't a bodybuilder by any means, but he had been pretty proud of his toned physique. It meant he could throw a punch when it mattered. Or, at least that much was true before Gyze. 

"Steady now, take a break if you need to." 

Kazuma dropped to the floor mat, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down his face gratuitously even though they had just barely started the endurance test. 

From the corner of his vision, the doctor held out a paper cup full of water. 

Kazuma picked himself up to sitting, took the cup with a winded "Thank you" and drank the cold water greedily. He braced a hand against the back of his neck, willing the breath in his lungs to flow properly and clear the oxygen-deprived fuzziness that was settling in his mind. 

Vaguely, he could hear the doctor and Ibuki talking in muted tones. 

(Or at least, Kazuma hoped it was their voices.) 

More clearly, he saw the doctor's look of concern and Ibuki's expression as it darkened. 

\--- 

"Firstly, let me thank you for allowing us to study you for as long as we have. You have my gratitude for that," Ibuki stated calmly as if he was reading from a script. 

"It's alright," Kazuma shrugged, "So, did you find anything?" 

Ibuki pursed his lips together in a thin line. 

Kazuma sighed. There was no point in beating around the bush, "I'm really out of shape, aren't I? After getting possessed, I mean. I was fine before." 

"If it were only that, then that would have been fine," Ibuki muttered ominously. 

"What do you mean?" 

Ibuki's red eyes fell to the ground and his silver bangs drooped over his lashes. In the relatively short time Kazuma had known Ibuki, it was perhaps the first time that he had gotten a glimpse of the man behind the mantle of "Vanguard Association President." 

Just a twenty-something-year-old man who shouldered more than one person was meant to bear. 

Despite the growing dread from whatever the doctor had found, Kazuma felt the need to say something to reassure Ibuki's harrowing expression, but he had never been the most eloquent speaker. Too often too blunt and straightforward, in his teammates' words. 

"Um, it's alright you know," Kazuma said awkwardly, "I mean, I can take it. You can tell me." 

Ibuki leveled his eyes on Kazuma. Kazuma held out against the man's stern gaze as steadily as possible. After a moment, Ibuki looked away with a sigh. 

"Your body is significantly weaker after having taken in Gyze. I'm sure you've already noticed that much. What's more concerning is the fact that even with time, your endurance and strength seem to have improved very little." 

"As for the reason why that is," Ibuki closed his eyes, "The tests have shown that while you still look like a normal sixteen-year-old body, your bones, muscles, and joints are more like that of a sixty-year-old man. My theory is that this is from residual stress from taking on Gyze." 

Kazuma blinked. 

"I have the body of an old man," he blurted. 

He had noticed over time that he got winded more easily and couldn't lift as much as he usually could. Noticed that he got colder more easily and that his joints ached, but Kazuma had just chalked it up to the hospital stay he'd been forced into right after the diffride had been undone. Not that his body had literally aged almost fifty years. 

"There's more," Ibuki gritted out as he opened his eyes. 

Even though he was partially in shock, Kazuma murmured, "Tell me." 

"Besides the fact that there is likely very little we can do to undo the damage, we are also currently unsure of how this will affect your life expectancy." 

Oh. 

_Oh._

"So what you're saying is that I've got the body of the old man and that'll probably kill me sooner than later?" 

Ibuki's head hung low, "In essence, yes." 

Some part of Kazuma wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Gyze was gone, all the destruction was undone, and yet here he was, still getting screwed over by the whole mess of it. 

"We're going to do the most we can to help you," Ibuki continued with a new urgency in his voice, "I will personally see to it that the Vanguard Association will provide all the necessary assistance you need. We won't give up. It's only a possibility that it'll affect how long you live. You have as much a chance of living out your normal life as the alternative." 

The alternative being dying an early death. 

Kazuma didn't know what else to say, so he simply replied: 

"Okay." 

\--- 

**Do not think you can be rid of me so easily.**

The ivory cage that Kazuma stood in was distinct and familiar. It was tall and elegantly seamless with lattice bars that formed the walls. 

Just like when Gyze had diffriden him before, there was no door. 

"Let me out," Kazuma muttered darkly. He squared his shoulders and looked out into the inky darkness beyond the cage resolutely. Beyond the bravado, though, he felt himself tremble, felt his throat constrict. 

A laugh resounded through the space, filling the cage and Kazuma's ears. A shimmering pair of golden eyes, bright and dangerous beamed through the darkness, outlining the profile of a white visage, several times larger than Kazuma. 

**As the sun rises and the sun sets, I will always be with you.**

"Stop." 

Kazuma backed away as much as he could until his back hit the far wall. The lattice was ice cold against his back. His eyes flitted around, looking desperately for a way out, only to land on a small collection of scratches in one corner of the cage – the same ones he had made when he tried escaping before. 

The visage drew near until Gyze loomed with its face right against the lattice. 

**Run, hide, do whatever you wish.**

"Stop!" Kazuma yelled, knees buckling. He clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block the sound, the light, just everything - out 

**But I will never be far from you.**

\--- 

Kazuma shot out of bed, heartbeat hammering all the way into his fingertips. He gasped harshly for air as he held his head in hands. Afterimages of a white-mantled entity, the sensation of being swallowed whole, and a lingering laugh (guttural, yet, ephemeral) echoed like a ping pong rally in his head. All the sensations of his bedroom – the dark blue sheets, white walls, and simple décor - felt out of place. 

Or maybe he was the once who was out of place. 

It was hard to tell. 

He had asked his brother once, what it was like to be taken over by a diffrider. 

_I can’t speak for the others, but for me it was like slowly drowning - eternally sinking deeper and deeper into a watery abyss. There wasn’t any pain. Everything just stopped. Honestly, if Shiranui hadn't left me our memories, I don't think I would have remembered a thing._

At the time, Kazuma thought it was good then, that Shiranui had seen the light before returning to Cray. There was an unerasable pain that came with Kazumi's memories, but having them seemed to genuinely help him recover. And, more importantly, they were pivotal in planning the counterattack against Gyze. 

After Gyze, though, Kazuma realized that he completely disagreed. 

It would've been much better, easier, had he just forgotten that Gyze ever even existed. 

\--- 

"You look like you got run over." 

"Gee, way to be subtle Shindou," Kazuma drawled as he switched into his indoor shoes. 

"I'm serious Kazuma. Have you been sleeping?" 

_Like a sixty-year-old man_ , Kazuma thought bitterly. 

"Leave me alone, mom, I need to go to class," Kazuma joked as he closed his shoe locker. 

"Wha-! Don't change the topic!" Chrono blocked off Kazuma's path. "Something's wrong. I know it." 

Kazuma felt irritation bubbling through the haze of sleep-deprivation, "Move." 

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Chrono rebutted. 

"I thought you said you wouldn't pry if I didn't want to tell you," Kazuma narrowed his eyes. It was a bit cruel, holding Chrono's own words against him, but Kazuma could be cruel if it would get his teammate off his case. 

"I can't stand by what I said when you're clearly suffering," Chrono shook his head. 

A flutter of whispers and murmurs from nearby students swept by. They were causing quite the scene for a normal school morning. 

"Please, Kazuma," Chrono reached out to grasp Kazuma's shoulder when Kazuma abruptly smacked it away. 

"I said leave it," Kazuma muttered darkly. He took a step forward, right into Chrono's personal space until Kazuma's vision was filled with Chrono's green eyes, blown wide and the stupid swirly, gravity-defying hair of his. 

"So _leave_ it." 

Kazuma stepped back and shouldered right past Chrono, into the school. 

The murmurs around them faded into a deafening silence. 

\--- 

Chrono had wanted to chase after Kazuma. He wanted to yell at him and beat some sense into him, he really did. 

But when Kazuma had been right in his face, dark bangs falling slightly over his own, the shadows and lights had played tricks on Chrono's eyes. 

Because for just a moment, Kazuma's sterling silver eyes looked like a dangerous shade of gold. 

Chrono breathed in, then breathed out. 

He pulled out his phone, hands faintly shaking, and started a message to the first person he knew would hear him out. 

_I need to talk to you about Kazuma. Are you working at the first store today?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written fics in forever, but I finally watched all of G during quarantine and boy do I have lots o' thoughts.
> 
> Vanguard is and always will be a show that largely doesn't have lasting consequences (looking at you, Shion), but I thought it might be fun to explore if it did. Fear not, though, for Kazuma will be getting his promised dose of therapy for his troubles sooner than later.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here come the dads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't need to know it, but reading the [Thoughts of Messiah](https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Messiah) on Messiah's page helps in understanding this chapter. Will be linked again where it's relevant.

**Swirly Head 7:51**

_kazuma we need to talk_

**Swirly Head 8:05**

_kazuma where are you?_

**Swirly Head 8:25**

_schools about to start where are you??_

**Swirly Head 8:28**

_are you skipping school or something?_

**Swirly Head 12:10**

_okazaki said youve been coming to class late_

**Swirly Head 12:11**

_im at our usual spot, where are you???_

**Swirly Head 12:11**

_are you ignoring me??_

_Yes_ , Kazuma thought as he sat at the bottom of a stairwell with his lunch in his lap, _I am_. 

It had been two full days since the encounter at the shoe lockers. Avoiding Chrono had been surprisingly easy since they weren't in the same class and Kazuma had a rough idea of what days Chrono worked at Card Capital. And, well, if collecting a few extra tardies meant Kazuma didn't have to see Chrono's concerned face then he could stand taking the long way to school. 

Although, if Chrono knew that Kazuma was coming late, then perhaps it was time to change up strategies and start coming early. 

Kazuma knew he couldn't avoid Chrono forever, but he didn't need to. He just needed long enough to come to terms with his impending doom and figure out the best ways to hide that his body was a creaky mess so he could move on with however long he had left to live. It was a couple more skeletons in the closet then he was dealing with before, but he could do it. 

Easy, right? 

\--- 

On the third day, Kazuma came to school early and loitered around the stairwells again when he received another text from Chrono and, somewhat unsurprisingly, a text from Taiyou. 

**Swirly Head 8:01**

_kazuma stop ignoring me, please_

**Elementary Kid 8:05**

_Kazuma-san! I heard that you're not feeling well? Do you need help with anything? Chrono-san seems really worried..._

This round of messages was harder for Kazuma to ignore. He was tempted to block both of his teammates' numbers, but it seemed too finite of a strategy. 

So he settled with turning off his phone entirely. 

(In contrast to the silence, the humming in his ears only seemed to get louder.) 

\--- 

"He's definitely ignoring us," Chrono said as he leaned against the front counter of Card Capital 2. 

"Yes, it seems so," Taiyou sulked on the customer's side. 

Chrono sighed, "You know, this kind of reminds me of when we first made the team." 

"Do you mean the time that he was almost late for the U20 qualifying tournament at the first store?" Taiyou inquired. 

"Yup."

"We both blew up his phone that morning too, didn't we?" Taiyou chuckled. He looked down at the phone screen in his hand and hovered his finger over Kazuma's name in his call logs. After a bit of hesitation, he tapped down to start a call. 

Without even ringing once the mechanical voice of the default answering machine Kazuma had on started to drone out its script. 

"He must've turned his phone off," Taiyou murmured quietly, "It's been like this all day whenever I've tried to call him. I don't think any of our messages reached him either, then." The frown lines on Taiyou's face deepened as he whispered, "Do you think he doesn't care about us anymore?" 

"No way," Chrono immediately replied. "After all we've been through, there's no way that's true." 

Taiyou looked up to see Chrono, eyes ablaze in a mix of fury and frustration. 

For how dispassionate Chrono had once claimed to be, years ago, this was how Taiyou always remembered Chrono – forward and recklessly faithful in his friends. It was that fire that had saved Taiyou once and ever since then, he had been unable to look away from Chrono's resoluteness. Unable to avoid being compelled by his force of nature.

"Yeah. You're right," Taiyou's voice gained momentum as he spoke, "Kazuma-san wouldn't do that to us." 

"Of course not," Chrono affirmed, "He's just... hiding something from us. I know it." 

"You said he's been acting strange, right?" 

"Yeah, then when I confronted him about it, he really pushed back against me. But, there was something else that I noticed that has me worried." 

"What is it?" 

Chrono was about to reply when the sound of his phone notification went off. 

He immediately pulled it out to read the message, then smiled. 

"Chrono-san? What is it? Did Kazuma-san finally reply?" Taiyou hand both hands on the counter and seemed ready to vault over it just to look over Chrono's shoulder. 

"Ah, no, sorry it isn't Kazuma," Chrono clarified. 

"Oh," Taiyou deflated, "That's a shame." 

"Wait, wait, it's not him, but I think it might be the next best thing." 

Taiyou tilted his head, "What do you mean?" 

Chrono turned his phone around so Taiyou could read the message logs. 

**Kamui-san 17:20**

_They can meet him tomorrow. Try to see if you can get him to that one park where you did your first quest._

\--- 

"Kazuma-san!" 

Kazuma jolted at the sound of his name in a very familiar voice. He had just crossed the threshold of the school gates when lo and behold, there was his teammate, Asukawa Taiyou, running towards him at full throttle. 

"Taiyou?!" 

School had ended only fifteen minutes ago and Taiyou's middle school was nowhere near Harumi High School. How the boy had managed to somehow make it all the way to Kazuma in that sliver of time was beyond him. 

The boy skidded to a stop just in front of Kazuma and bent over, panting heavily. 

"Kazuma-san! It's," Taiyou gulped, "an emergency!" 

A flip switched in Kazuma's head, "What is it? What happened?" 

"No time to explain!" Taiyou shook his head, "Just please, please hurry!" 

Despite the fact that Kazuma had been pointedly avoiding his teammate for four days now, despite the fact that he was weary and tired from lack of sleep, the urgency in Taiyou's voice shocked over him like a cold balm. The decision was simple because there was no decision to make. 

"You better explain yourself later," Kazuma muttered. 

Taiyou's face brightened considerably, "I will! Now come on! We don't have a lot of time!" 

As the two teenagers raced off, a sleek, black car stopped in front of Harumi High School's gate. Inside, an elderly butler smiled fondly. He had been surprised when Taiyou decided to throw open the car door at the first sight of Kazuma. The car had been moving, but the butler had managed to slow down just enough that the boy hadn't been hurt as he touched down and started running. 

"Message to young master Shion," Iwakura intoned into his smartphone, "Asukawa Taiyou has been dropped off. I will be present to pick up the young master after club activities have concluded." 

\--- 

Running was a new hell for Kazuma. 

Had Taiyou always been this fast? Hadn't he had a leg in a cast for a sprain not too long ago? Kazuma didn't remember. Couldn't remember, really, because he felt like his heart was about to implode from the effort of just beating. Taiyou noticed partway on their run and looked back at him with concerned eyes. It probably didn't help that Kazuma was wheezing like a winded goat. 

At one point, they reached a red stoplight and it took all Kazuma had to keep from toppling over into the street. 

Taiyou's worry peaked, prompting him to speak, "I'm sorry Kazuma-san, but should we stop-" 

"You're the one who said it was an emergency," Kazuma wheezed with his hands on his knees. 

Taiyou bit his lower lip, a bad habit he did whenever he was nervous. The wide-eyed look on his face made Kazuma feel a tinge of guilt. Honestly, he would much rather take a triple critical to the gut if it meant he could just stop making everyone walk on glass around him. 

(Gyze was gone. Gyze was gone. Gyze was gone. A mantra that didn't stop the now constant humming, but didn't hurt to think either.) 

Kazuma closed his eyes, breathed in, and tamped down the growing irritation. Taiyou was just trying to care for him, just like everyone else. He sighed and opened his eyes with a small smile on his face. 

"I'm peachy," Kazuma wiped away the sweat on his brow, "Though, I might be a little stung about getting outrun by an itty-bitty elemen-" 

"Middle schooler," Taiyou cut in. He pouted, puffing his cheeks like a chipmunk. If anything, it only made him look younger than he was. 

"Right, right," Kazuma huffed, "A terrifying itty-bitty middle schooler." 

"Now I know you're just trying to annoy me." 

Kazuma was trying to annoy him, because an annoyed Taiyou wasn't a Taiyou who stole glances at Kazuma when he thought his teammate wasn't looking. Annoyed Taiyou could just be annoyed that Kazuma was picking on him for having a baby face. 

Taiyou was smarter than that, though. 

"Can't help it," Kazuma chucked. 

The light turned green and Kazuma straightened up. 

"Let's go, Taiyou." 

\--- 

Kazuma wasn't sure what he had been expecting when they reached their destination. More trouble from Cray? A dragon rampaging in the street? Chrono got kidnapped again? The possibilities really were endless. 

But one of the things he just didn't expect was a simple, idyllic view in the park near Card Capital 2. 

"Okay," Kazuma muttered as he leaned over a metal railing, trying to catch his breath, "Why the hell did you make me run all this way?" 

"Um, that's, well," Taiyou looked around the park frantically. 

They weren't there yet. Chrono had said that he would meet them at the first store while Taiyou retrieved Kazuma, but there wasn't a lick of cherry red hair in sight. 

"Taiyou." 

"Please, just wait a little longer," Taiyou resorted to pleading, "Chrono-san said-" 

Kazuma's tone as he cut in was hoarse and aggressive, "Did Shindou put you up to this?"

A fresh wave of annoyance ticked Kazuma off. Of course his teammates were co-conspirators. Of course they were both trying to help. But Kazuma wasn't about to have any of it. If he was going mad with visions of a dead deity, he didn't want anyone else to have anything to do with it. It was easier, simpler that way, he was convinced. Now, if only they would let him be alone. 

"No! It was both of our-," Taiyou stopped and scrubbed a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Please, Kazuma-san, please just wait for Chrono-san to get here. I promise it's for your own good-" 

"I'm leaving," Kazuma pushed off the railing. His knees still felt a little weak, but he wasn't going to let his own damn body stop him. This was all a mistake. He knew he wasn't ready to face his teammates yet. In fact, if the growing hum in his ears was anything to go off of, he was growing to believe that he wouldn't ever be ready. 

"Kazuma-san!" Taiyou reached out and grabbed Kazuma's arm. 

Kazuma yanked back his arm as hard as he could, but Taiyou's grip was stronger than his feeble tug. 

"Let go!" 

"Would you please just listen to me!?" Taiyou yelled. 

Kazuma mustered all the strength he had and pulled back all at once, ripping his arm out of Taiyou's grasp. The force of the pull sent him stumbling back a few feet until he steadied himself. While still breathing heavily, he straightened up to standing. If cursing and yelling didn't work, then he could use the opposite just as well. 

"Leave me alone," he said in a flat tone, devoid of character. 

At that, Taiyou flinched. Much like Chrono before him, it was too much, too soon. An echo of a time that was both far away, yet close enough to reach. 

With that, Kazuma spun on his heel to leave. 

\--- 

Then, immediately ran into someone. 

"Shit, sorry," Kazuma said on instinct until he paused to actually realize who he had run into. 

"No worries, I'm sorry too," the meek voice came from a person with blue hair and eyes, as well as a face Kazuma could have sworn that he had seen before. 

"Aichi, are you alright?" A deeper voice asked. It came from a taller man, a brunette with sharp teal eyes. 

Both of their faces looked familiar, but Kazuma found that he couldn't put any names to them. 

"Ah!" Taiyou's voice exclaimed from behind him. 

"Ah, Asukawa-kun, right?" The man Kazuma bumped into smiled. "Sorry for being late." 

"No, no it's alright," Taiyou walked up to the three of them. He noticeably stood a little ways off from Kazuma, "Is Chrono-san with you?" 

"Well, uh, we did meet him over at the first store. He was supposed to come with us, but Kamui-kun needed help with a large group of children that came in," the bluenette responded sheepishly. 

Only then did it hit Kazuma – he had seen them at the briefing, in person and over a screen respectively, at the Vanguard Association headquarters. At the time he just figured that they were some big wigs within the Vanguard Association. He had later learned that while they weren't officially part of the Association, they provided assistance between university and pro-fighting due to having been involved in some trouble in the past. Sendou Aichi and Kai Toshiki, if he wasn't mistaken. 

"I see," Taiyou murmured, visibly deflated. 

"Don't worry!" Aichi held his hands up in assurance, "He said he would come over as soon as possible. Ah, but in the mean time, could you do a favor for me, Taiyou-kun?" 

"Yes?" 

"Chrono-kun told Shin-san that he would be late for work, but since he's held up right now, I think he probably hasn't had a chance to let him know that he's running later than he expected," Aichi pointed over in the direction of Card Capital 2, "Do you think you could go let Shin-san know?" 

"Oh," Taiyou snuck a glance over at Kazuma. He seemed hesitant to leave, but eventually nodded, "I can do that." 

"Perfect! Thank you," Aichi clapped his hands together, "Now..." 

Kazuma had been standing to the side, unable to leave without drawing attention to himself when he found himself on the other end of Aichi's blue eyes. 

There was a chiming sound. It sounded like a bell or a tuning fork that had been struck somewhere far away in the distance. In that instant, the humming that had been accumulating in Kazuma's mind ceased at once into blissful silence. And for the barest moment, there seemed to be a shimmer in Aichi's eyes that reminded Kazuma of a night sky - an array of bright colors surrounding his pupils, full of stars. 

The next moment he blinked, Aichi's eyes were back to normal. 

"Shouji Kazuma-kun, right? I believe we've met before," Aichi, short-statured as he was, commandeered more presence that Kazuma thought was possible for someone who looked as shy as he did. 

"Would you mind coming with us for a bit?" 

\--- 

Kazuma, Aichi, and Kai ended up at a small café down the street where they all got coffees. 

"So, what is this for?" Kazuma got straight to the point. He was tired, irritated, and ready to go home so he could avoid people and sleeping for the foreseeable future. Maybe he could become a mountain man like Kanzaki. The mountains seemed like a nice place to quietly go crazy. 

"Well-" 

"We have something to tell you, about Gyze," Kai cut in. 

Kazuma unconsciously tensed. 

As if sensing his discomfort, Aichi frowned at Kai and quietly murmured, "Kai, be gentle." 

"We can't keep withholding the truth, Aichi," Kai replied sternly, but his face softened a bit at Aichi's admonishment. 

"What truth? What is it?" Kazuma raised his voice. He was sick of people edging around him, being afraid to talk to him straight when he wasn't even sure of himself. "Tell me, or I'm leaving." 

Aichi bit his bottom lip. It reminded Kazuma faintly of Taiyou, amplified by the meek demeanor that both had when visibly nervous. 

"I'm not sure how I should say this, but," Aichi looked straight ahead. His blue eyes were ablaze with a new determination that make Kazuma unconsciously shrink back into his chair. 

"Gyze isn't completely gone." 

A beat. 

Kazuma laughed. 

It was a laugh that he had been bottling up ever since he had woken up in his brother's arms after being freed. A laugh born from sleepless nights and private torment. A laugh at the irony of the fact that he hadn't been paranoid to be hearing that incessant humming, even though he still felt like he was going crazy from it still. A laugh that he let out because he didn't know how else to react to the fact that Gyze – Gyze was still there. 

"Wait, please, let us explain!" Aichi exclaimed, alarmed at Kazuma's reaction. 

"I knew it!" 

Aichi clamped his mouth shut, stunned. 

Kazuma's laughter came to a stilted stop. He wiped a bit of wetness from his eyes and smiled his first real smile in a long time. 

It was one thing to have auditory hallucinations and nightmares about a being that supposedly didn't exist. Knowing that Gyze was still kicking out there put weight into what Kazuma thought were delusions. He wasn't crazy. There was some cold, hard, quantifiable measure to the madness. And if Gyze was still out there, then it meant that they could probably still go out to collectively give him a stomping that would end him for good. 

"I'm sorry, I just," he huffed, "I've been thinking that I've been going crazy for a while because I kept seeing and hearing it everywhere. So to hear that Gyze is still, well, actually there makes me feel slightly less crazy." 

"Oh," Aichi paused, "I see." 

Now that he had gotten the laugh of his system, Kazuma felt a bit bad for reacting the way he did. He had definitely spooked Aichi a bit if the uncertain look on his face was anything to go off of. Fortunately, Kai took the reins and continued, unperturbed. 

"I presume you're aware of the Messiah?" 

Kazuma nodded. He'd been roughly briefed throughout all the chaos about the history Cray before. 

"Good," Kai continued, "As you probably know, Gyze is Messiah's counterpart. Twin forces of creation and destruction." 

"When one is strengthened, the other is weakened," Aichi piped in. "But since they are counterpart entities, neither one can truly exist without the other." 

It made sense. Kazuma really wondered though, "So what happened to Gyze, then?" 

Aichi and Kai shared a look. 

What or how they were communicating just by looking at each other, Kazuma didn't know. It was reminiscent of a pair of parents, figuring out who should say what while trying to explain something to their child. In the end, it was Aichi that spoke. 

"Gyze was destroyed in the last battle because [Messiah](https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Messiah) entrusted the remainder of its power to the future through Chrono and Chronojet," Aichi spoke evenly, "That's how Chrono-kun was able to unlock Chronojet Dragon's new form."

Kazuma let the information sink in, "I thought you said that Gyze wasn't completely gone, though. How can it have been destroyed, but still exist?" 

"Ah, this is where things get a little more complicated," Aichi rubbed the back of his neck. 

Kai took this as his cue to speak, "Gyze was destroyed, but part of Messiah still exists." 

"Right," Aichi continued, "According to Ibuki, Messiah has fallen asleep since the destruction of Gyze. It was already weakened by Gyze's awakening and is now fading into the planet of Cray itself." 

"But, Messiah and Gyze have always been counterpart entities," Kai added. 

The revelation dawned on Kazuma as he echoed Aichi's words from before, "And neither one can truly exist without the other," 

Aichi nodded gravely and Kai fell silent. 

Kazuma let it sink in, "So until Messiah finishes fading away, Gyze is still... there, somewhere. Is that it?" 

"That's the gist of it," Kai replied curtly, "Gyze's corporeal form was destroyed. Anything left is just weak essence in space." 

Kazuma stared at the table. Any elation he had felt before had become a muted sense of dread. Their coffee was probably already cold, but he wanted to do something, so he picked up his cup and took a long, tepid drink. He slowly closed his eyes and felt the weight of nightmares and stray voices, still fresh and heavy on his mind. 

When he opened his eyes, he was met with Aichi's concerned face. 

"So this does mean I'm going crazy," he said without thinking, "Because Gyze is pretty much already gone. It shouldn't be able to interact with anyone, right?" 

"Not quite," Aichi denied firmly, "I'm sorry for being forward, but, Kamui-kun had told me through Chrono-kun that you had been acting strange lately." 

Kazuma huffed, but he wasn't surprised. He should've realized it when Taiyou showed up at the gates to his school that this meeting was Chrono's doing. Figures. While Chrono was just another person by the universe's standards now, he was still a gravitational anomaly in Kazuma's book. A cosmic force that always dragged Kazuma along whether he liked it or not. 

Aichi calmly continued, "If you don't mind, could you share a bit more about your experiences?" 

Kazuma was tired. So he told them. 

About the cage where he was when he was diffriden. About the voices and dreams. About the images that wouldn't fade. About the effects on his body. 

Aichi and Kai both listened intently, their eyes never leaving him once while he recounted it all. 

When he was done Aichi and Kai shared another, much shorter look. 

"Thank you for sharing this with us. I know this must have been difficult for you," Aichi's voice was soothing. Despite its relatively high pitch, there was a warm depth to the way he spoke that Kazuma hadn't really noticed prior. It was comforting. "If you would like, Ibuki and I do have a theory as to why you may still be experiencing these things." 

Kazuma blinked. He almost wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but curiosity won, "What is it?" 

"You're aware that Ibuki is considered Messiah's messenger, so to speak?" Aichi cradled his own cooled coffee cup. 

"I've heard about it, but what does that exactly mean?" Kazuma raised a brow. 

"It's a bit of a long story, but some years ago, Ibuki was saved by Messiah. As a result, he became Messiah's messenger, a sort of mediator between Messiah and this world." 

Aichi moved one of his hands to tap his chin thoughtfully, "My theory is that, even though Gyze has no corporeal form, because Messiah is still fading his remaining essence is somewhat able to attune to those who are entwined with him. It's like Messiah and Gyze are radio stations, albeit with very weak signals right now, and only those who know the channel to them can hear them. Like Ibuki, and now, you." 

This time, Kazuma was quick on the uptake, "You think I'm a messenger of Gyze." 

"The title is arbitrary," Aichi reassured firmly, "But in essence, that is what I think is happening. A sort of side-effect of having been his vessel." 

Kazuma held the information in his mind, rolled it around a bit, then decided, "You know, this really just sucks to hear." 

"I'm sorry," Aichi apologized again, even though none of the whole fiasco was his fault in the slightest. "With hope, Gyze will be gone sooner than later. At the point where Ibuki stops hearing Messiah, you should be freed from hearing Gyze as well."

Even though Aichi's words were meant to be reassuring, a fear bubbled up in Kazuma. An uncertainty that refused to go away. 

"Is something wrong?" Kai asked. For how stern he seemed to be, he had been surprisingly patient and receptive. Besides his one quipped remark at the beginning, he let Aichi and Kazuma talk freely, only interjecting to point out relevant information or guide the conversation. And, Kazuma noted, he was keenly observant. While Aichi looked around and fiddled as he spoke, Kai sat still with his arms crossed and teal eyes only on Kazuma when he had something to say. 

There was no real use in hiding it, then. Kazuma rested his hands on the table and whispered, "What if the visions of Gyze don't go away, even after he's supposedly gone for good?"

Aichi smiled a pained smile. He pressed a hand to his own chest. 

"I know it may not mean much, but I, well," he looked over to Kai, "We, in particular, understand how you might feel." 

"It's a long story," Kai added. 

Fatigued and thoroughly wrung as he was, Kazuma asked, "Humor me?" 

And so, they did. 

It was a long story of learning, hope, breaking through limits, chasing, and seeking that had Kazuma leaning forward over the table in shock at several points. 

"In the end, it was our connection to each other and our friends that kept us grounded," Aichi surmised, "Though, truth be told, both of us still have days where we remember too much, too deeply." There was a keen sadness that filled Aichi's eyes, as vast and wide as the sky. 

Kai pointedly nodded before he spoke, "But the past is the past. Our hope is to live in the present and reach for the future. Together." 

"Together," Kazuma echoed. There were quite a few people he felt like he could include in that one word. A socially inept brother who brooded over him, a petulant middle schooler with a smile like the sun, and of course, the gravitational anomaly that had shown Kazuma the path forward in the first place. 

\--- 

"Thanks for all this," Kazuma gave a low bow." 

"Ah, please lift your head! We just wanted to make sure you were okay," Aichi said, flustered. 

"You have a lot of people that care about you. Don't forget that," Kai added with a stern tone, even though the corners of his mouth betrayed the barest hint of a smile. 

Kazuma stood up straight and declared, "Yes! If you'll excuse me, I uh, think I should probably see them now." 

"By all means!" Aichi beamed. 

With that, Kazuma turned around and ran with something that felt like freedom, filling his lungs until they overflowed. 

\--- 

"Do you think we did alright?" Aichi held his hand to his chest. Beneath his shirt, there were two elliptical scars that ran parallel down the middle of his sternum. An entry scar and an exit scar, both years old now. Neither of them hurt, but they still stood out a good bit whenever Aichi took his shirt off – angry and dark red against his pale complexion. 

"We did as much as we could," Kai gently patted Aichi's shoulder, "Now we have to trust in the path that they choose for themselves." 

"Right," Aichi smiled softly. "It's strange, though. To think that we were like that once, too." 

Kai, in a rare show, actually chuckled, "Headstrong and determined to keep to ourselves for the rest of our lives? Or recklessly running forward to find each other?" 

"Maybe a little bit of both," Aichi laughed. 

"Ibuki was right," Kai sighed, "We've become old men." 

"Old men providing post-possession therapy for Vanguard fighters?" 

"Mhm." 

"I think I don't mind that too much." 

"Me too." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: this chapter should be around the same length as the first one  
> also me: no haha
> 
> Finally, Aichi and Kai come to the rescue! Having both been sort of possessed themselves, I figured they'd be a good help in sorting through the aftermath of it. Writing them together is surprisingly difficult, though. Hope they're not too ooc. 
> 
> The bit about Messiah being asleep and becoming one with Cray after the final battle is taken straight from the last chapter of the [Bushiroad Monthly Short novels.](https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Monthly_Bushiroad_Short_Novels_Archive) The essence of Gyze still floating around is my personal spin on it, because it felt like a good excuse to give Kazuma an extra dose angst and it felt in-line with the lore. 
> 
> Feel-good epilogue coming soon to wrap things up. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorting through the mess, heading towards the future.

"They've been gone for a while. Do you think he's okay?" Taiyou asked nervously. He stood at the counter while Chrono, back from the first shop, unpacked a new box of trial decks. 

"Kamui-san said they could handle it and I trust him, so," Chrono shrugged. 

"You're worried too, though, aren't you?" Taiyou bit at his bottom lip. 

"I am," Chrono admitted, "But, I have faith that he'll be okay." 

"Right," Taiyou replied weakly. 

Chrono really couldn't bear upset children (which, Taiyou still kind of was in Chrono's mind, despite his protests), so he patted Taiyou's shoulder. 

"Hey, keep your chin up. I'm sure that anytime now, he'll just swagger through the door like usual-" 

At that exact moment, the door to Card Captial 2 swung open. Kazuma, sweating through his shirt, knees banging together from exertion, flung himself half over the counter to grab hold of both Chrono and Taiyou into a tight hug. 

Chrono and Taiyou yelped in unison as they caught their teammate. 

"I'm sorry!" Kazuma yelled, voice hoarse, "I should've told you guys. I'm sorry." His whole body tremored with strain and the weight of his emotions. 

Only a beat passed before Taiyou, ever the ray of sunshine, held onto the two taller boys tighter with his thin arms, prompting Chrono to do the same. 

As if they were lost at sea, Team Striders held onto each other arm-in-arm, ensuring that none of them could ever slip away. If Taiyou was the sun and Chrono the force of gravity, then Kazuma was just a moon, always trapped in the flow of their orbit. 

And when Kazuma's knees finally did give out from all the running he'd done, Taiyou and Chrono quickly braced him against their arms so he wouldn't fall. 

\---

"And that's all of it," Kazuma finished. 

Chrono and Taiyou both sat still. The three of them were congregated in the empty cardshop that Shin was gracious enough to let them loiter in, even though the store had closed a whole thirty minutes prior. 

Chrono clenched his fists. What was he supposed to say? _Sorry that your body was ruined by getting forcefully possessed? Sorry for existing as a space-time singularity for most of my life?_ Honestly, any apology just felt cheap in Chrono's head, because when it came down to it: 

"It should've been me." 

"No, Chrono-san," Taiyou interjected immediately. "If anything, I should've stopped Kazuma-san from fighting Chaos Breaker. We knew it was a trap, and yet!" 

Kazuma looked at both of his teammates. 

His two, honest-to-Gyze self-sacrificing teammates who had been patient with him when he hadn't had any patience for himself. Kazuma wasn’t sure how he hadn't noticed it before, but honestly, getting possessed wasn't worth a damn compared to making sure that they were okay. And even if he wasn't a wordsmith, even if he was bad at feelings and communicating, he needed them to know. 

"If Gyze was going to come back today." 

Chrono and Taiyou's gazes shot back to Kazuma. 

"Even if it meant I would become a hundred years old, I would take him in again." 

"Like hell," Chrono slammed a hand against the table, "I wouldn't let you." 

"That's the thing," Kazuma leaned back in his chair, "If things were reversed and you had been taken over by Gyze when we left Relics, what do you think would've happened?" 

Chrono mulled over it. 

"Gastille said that I might've been able to keep Gyze in check with my will," Chrono said slowly. 

"And then?" 

"Well, I would've! Then we would've found a way to drive him out." 

"We?" Kazuma quirked an eyebrow. 

"Yes, we," Chrono frowned and crossed his arms, "Are you trying to say that you wouldn't have helped me if I had been taken over by Gyze?" 

"Actually, Chrono-san," Taiyou piped in inquisitively, "I think he means the opposite." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Chrono-san, if, for example, I or Tokoha-san or Shion-san had been taken over by Gyze, would you have done anything differently?" 

Chrono paused again to think again. He carefully thought through each event in his mind. 

That day, when two Zeroth dragons bared their fangs over the empty parking garage where Chrono had found Taiyou, if it had been someone else besides Kazuma, with that blank stare in their eyes, holding up a deck in a silent command to fight... 

"Was there anything I should've done differently?" He thought aloud. 

Whether it had been Taiyou, Tokoha, Shion, Ibuki, hell, even if it had been Tsuneto, Chrono still would've fought them. Even if his loss was written in the stars, he knew he couldn't have done anything but try. 

Then it hit him. 

"I think he's figured it out, Kazuma-san." 

"About time," Kazuma sighed. He leaned forward, thumb over middle finger, and delivered a loud flick to Chrono's forehead. 

"Ow! What was-" 

Kazuma half-stood with one hand braced against the table, just inches from Chrono's face. It was a familiar sight for both of them. Except this time, Kazuma's face was relaxed and the light above them made his eyes gleam like stainless steel. Up close, Chrono could also make out the dark circles that lined Kazuma's under eyes. He looked tired. 

"If you had been possessed, I would've hauled all the way to Cray if that's what it took to beat some sense back into you. No less than what you did for me. No less than what you would've done for anyone else." 

Kazuma sat back down, "We could probably argue about what-if's and blame forever, but personally? If Gyze possessing someone was inevitable, then honestly I'm glad it was me. If our roles really were reversed, I'm sure you would think the same. And you-" 

Kazuma turned sharply to Taiyou, who immediately sat up straighter. 

"There was no way we could've known that I still had the mark. If anything, it's my fault for challenging Chaos Breaker in the first place when we both knew it was a trap." 

Taiyou bit his lip and Chrono knitted his brows. It was clear that they both had their protests, so Kazuma tried again. 

"If you guys want to feel bad, then I'd rather you feel bad about making me run all the way here from school," Kazuma sighed, "My knees are killing me right now." 

"That's-!" 

"Kazuma-san!" 

Chrono and Taiyou exclaimed at the same time. 

"You wouldn't answer your phone!" Chrono protested. 

"We called you so many times!" Taiyou added. 

Kazuma laughed, "My bad, I just didn't want to get parented by a swirly-haired idiot and a middle-school-" 

"I'm in middle school!" Taiyou butt in before he registered exactly what Kazuma had said. "That's the second time you've done that!" 

"Someone has to keep you on your toes," Kazuma shrugged. His smile faded into a thin line, "But in all seriousness." 

Kazuma looked forward, determined. 

"If you guys hadn't saved me, I would've still been possessed by Gyze right now. I don't think I've said it properly, so I'll say it now: Thank you for saving me." 

The weight of his words washed over Chrono and Taiyou, rendering them mute. Kazuma had honestly forgotten in the midst of his own struggles, but teammates and everyone involved really defeated a whole deity to bring him back. That he was even alive and breathing was nothing short of a miracle. 

"Because of you and everyone else, I still have a future. And, honestly, if I hadn't met you when I did, then I would've still been just going through the motions somewhere. I still don't know how to repay you for that." 

"So if," Kazuma took a shuddering breath in, "If the price of meeting you was getting possessed by Gyze, then I would do it over again every time." 

Again, Kazuma was no wordsmith, but he hoped that his words conveyed even a fraction of the gratitude he felt. 

A beat passed. 

Then, a loud sniffle from Taiyou broke the silence. 

"B-but Kazuma-san," Taiyou warbled with tears filling his eyes, "It's still not fair. You-your body won't ever recover and, and-" Whatever he was about to say dissolved into a hiccup as the dam broke and the tears ran loose. 

Chrono reached out first and laid his hand on Taiyou's back where he rubbed soothing circles. Although Kazuma quickly noticed that even though Chrono seemed focused on the team's youngest member, there was a sheen of unshed tears filling his own eyes. 

As much as he wanted to get up and grab both of them, Kazuma's legs firmly said no, so he scooted his chair back, opened his arms, and quietly said, "Come over here, both of you." 

Both Taiyou and Chrono shuffled out of their seats and came over to Kazuma's side of the table. Figuring out who would go where when Kazuma was still sitting was a bit awkward, but eventually, Chrono and Taiyou both settled for leaning down so they each had a shoulder to cry into. As Taiyou's loud sobs and Chrono's silent ones filled Kazuma's ears, he gently patted both their backs. 

"It's okay," he murmured softly, "It's okay." _I'm here._

"It's all over," Kazuma said over a lump in his own throat, "We made it to the future. Now it's time to live in it." 

His words were as much for Chrono and Taiyou as they were for himself. 

The future was now. 

\--- 

The cage again. The same lattice, the same darkness, the same scratches where Kazuma had once bled his fingers raw with effort. 

**Puny creature. You** ** _will_** **realize how irrelevant your hopes are in the face of nothingness.**

Kazuma looked out to see the familiar form of Gyze, towering around him. For the very first time, he felt no fear looking right into the deity's form, which allowed him to take in details he hadn't noticed before. 

Gyze's sharp profile, the pointed stars that marked its power, and in the center of its chest, a mechanical pod tinted blue. 

"I feel sorry for you," Kazuma said plainly, "You don't have a future." 

A laugh resounded, still as ephemeral and grating on his ears as the first time he had heard it. 

**From thy lips, I only hear hearsay, my vessel. I much preferred to relish in your hopeless torment.**

Kazuma shook his head, "I'm not your vessel. I have my own future that I'm going towards." 

**But thou shalt never forget me. In your mind, I will remain forever.**

"Maybe," Kazuma huffed a laugh, "But you're not going to stop me anymore." 

He reached out and touched the lattice wall of the cage. It was cold as ice, yet seared his fingertips with heat at the same time. Kazuma pulled back his hand, curled his fingers into a fist, then swiftly punched the white wall. 

A loud crack resounded through the space. 

Then, several smaller crackling sounds as the lattice fractured into shards and Kazuma was set free. He continued and drifted up, propelled by an unforeseen force. He reached out again, and pressed his hand against Gyze's mantle. 

"Goodbye, Gyze. This will be the last time we talk." 

For the first time in his dreams, the world was silent. 

Like the cage before it, a web of cracks spidered across Gyze's visage before falling away completely into the inky void. 

\--- 

"I woke up with like, ten bottles of vitamin gummies on my desk. How he got into my room in the first place is beyond me," Kazuma groaned. 

Chrono laughed, "Isn't it nice that you have such a nice _Onii-chan_ to look after you?" 

The two of them loitered at a table in Card Capital 2. Chrono was technically on duty, but It had been so slow that he left the counter to plop into the seat next to Kazuma. 

"Shut up," Kazuma quipped without any bite, "You don't know how long it took me to get him to calm down when I first told him." 

"Think of it as karma for ignoring me and Taiyou for four days." 

Kazuma made a sour expression, "Where is Taiyou by the way? Isn't he usually here around this time?" 

"He goes to cram school now," Chrono said, "Apparently he talked to his parents and struck a deal with them." 

"So he's set on becoming a doctor, then?" 

"Yup." 

"Honestly, with his level of learning he really could've been an astronaut instead of you," Kazuma sighed, "Seriously, what kind of middle-schooler understands high-school level trigonometry and physics?" 

"Hey, you _offered_ to tutor me," Chrono pouted. 

"Uh-huh. That was before I realized how little you actually pay attention in class." 

"I do pay attention! Mostly, anyway." 

"Straight B students don't get to become astronauts, Chrono," Kazuma chided. 

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you go up yourself if you know so much, Kazuma," Chrono rebutted. 

"I heard space is bad for your bones," Kazuma shrugged nonchalantly, "So I guess you'll just have to go in my place. That said..." 

Kazuma's lips quirked into a devious smirk, "Do you remember what the degrees of the unit circle are?" 

Chrono's groan echoed throughout the empty store, throughout the back room, and even past the glass doors into the adjacent concrete hallway. 

The present they lived in may have been the culmination of all their efforts and dreams in the past, but the future beyond them was a beast of its own tier. Except now, Kazuma was strapped in and ready for the ride and whatever was to come. 

Even if it meant beating Chrono upside the head with a physics textbook. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap! 
> 
> Originally this chapter was a lot shorter but at the advice of [manila_envelope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manila_envelope) (aka Sage), I added the scene of Striders talking things out. Writing groups is hard. So is keeping them all in character. Oof.  
>   
> I'd also like the time to promote [Eclarius](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclarius) and [manila_envelope's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manila_envelope) cfv discord server for giving me a lot of oomph while writing this. They've graciously let me share it [here](https://discord.gg/fAjJXApWP4) so feel free to pop in and yell about cfv with us!
> 
> If you've made it this far, thanks a ton for reading! It's been really refreshing to write fics again, so here's to hoping that there's more to come in the future.


End file.
